The 2-Minute Minivan Camper Conversion
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 พ.ค. 2024
- #vanlife #vantour #minivanconversion
Minivan camper conversion!
We modified our Toyota Sienna to be convertible into a camper in minutes for total flexibility
Bed plans: drive.google.com/file/d/1BlvZ...
Chuck N Terri love creating things for adventure and we hope you enjoy it when we share our experiences. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Amazon links are paid links.
See rear bed supports here: amzn.to/3h31FkM
Camp Utensils kit: amzn.to/3iQ9OcR
People Litter box: Stansport toilet: amzn.to/3sAno9Q
Folding Mattress: Choose Full amzn.to/31ZROWn (choose full)
Vent: amzn.to/311KCd7
Renogy Charge Controller: amzn.to/2Y2onC0
Napier Minivan Tent: amzn.to/340iaue
Renogy Lithium Batteries: amzn.to/2PWbPrB
Feline Pine clumping litter: amzn.to/3bS3RvD
iPad holder: amzn.to/3kPoxqe
Grill: choose preferred color amzn.to/2CM5ufk
Thanks for watching
I LOVE THE LITTER BOX!! hahah I don't know why it made me so happy!
Don’t sweat the naysayers , love your choice of music
I just watched the 'one year later' video, and I had to check this out because of the comment at the end about the music 🎶😀...
Play the music you like!🎶
We have the exact same toilet. We love ours! So easy to use and we don't have to deal with Blackwater in our trailer. Thanks for sharing your awesome van conversion.
We dealt with black water for years. So done with that. Thanks.
Brilliant conversion. Sofa Bed set up with the slide outs drawers is awesome and love the shore power hook up . Happy travels
U did a great job. I would feel crowded with 2 people. Bless U on ur travels.
Love the music!
Finally!!! You now how many negative comments we have received?
Really nice design for serious travelers. Our GoneCamper doesn't require the removal of the 3rd row seat - but this does provide tons of storage! The cord reel is ingenious. See you on the road.
Ha - the cord reel was one of those things where you see the cord reel on your garage ceiling and think... “Hmmm I wonder”
Very clever design!
Thanks for this video. i finally found a "makeshift litter box toilet" that I've been looking for. I don't like the reliance and porta potties as they too big for our minivan. This stansport litter box is just the perfect size.
Very nice, a lot of good stuff going down here. That electrical cord is a nice addition. I did that to a van I had in the 80s. man it worked out great, pull into a site and plug in. Oh yeah. Thanks for the video.
Lots of useful ideas and links (hinges, tent). One lacking that I would like to also see is this retractable power cable under the hood. Thanks
Yes - We have plans to add that video in the future. Thanks for watching
This is the best minivan conversion I have seen. Brilliant 👍🏼😀
I love your set up! I have a Dodge Grand Caravan and you’ve given me plenty of ideas.
Thanks! Love to see your setup when complete. We got about half our ideas from TH-cam
New Sub, we are converting our Grand Caravan into a weekend escape
camper too! Love watching and getting ideas Thank You for sharing! -
Bill :)
You both are awesome.. A wonderful build with plenty of storage and so many great ideas..New subscriber..Thank you for the video..Have a blessed day..
Been watching a lot of videos, yours are the simplest and most organized van conversion!! Quick to set up and very straight to the point. New subscriber here. We are a couple on our 50’s,just recently empty nested... wanting to do like what you do . Still deciding how to do it... good luck and power on. Have a Vantastic adventure !!!
I haven’t camped in car yet but I like the folding privacy tents that can be set up quickly outside of car-giving you an extra room
I love your conversion and I’ve looked at so many! Love the bed can fold to sofa
Holy cow! That build is amazing! I don't own a minivan but I do have an old Ranger and some great ideas I can use when I finally get a taller truck topper. Safe travels...and btw, that's the best travel toilet I have ever seen.
I can vouch for the toilet. Amazing. I previously had a popup camper with a flush camp toilet... pain in the a$$. Easy to dispose the dry litter, hard to dispose of liquids.
5 minutes before watching this video (I'm kinda new to these videos), I thought, hum, I wonder if anyone ever uses litter? It seems like it would be so much less "messy!" This is great. Just getting ideas for down the road, maybe next year.
Great conversion. Love the music, rock on!
Great set up! Thanks for sharing!
Great conversion guys looks very functional and comfortable!,, Happy Trails!
What an amazing build!
Nice bed build exactly what I wanted to do but didn't know how , thank you so much for sharing this!!!!!
Great ideas! You two have really got it streamlined! Thanks so much for the bed instructions...very generous with your time. Looking forward to your electric video instruction as thats what I’m pretty weak on. Enjoy the road and make good use of those wine glasses!
Very nice van. What is the tent like wings on the back side? You have a very funny sense of humor,
Ppl litter box. I’m teetering on a mini van vs a conversation van. I’m classified as a “senior “‘single women with two senior dogs . Im going to try the nomad life for a year
So sorry. Our reply never posted. Here’s the link to the tent amzn.to/340iaue as well as the review th-cam.com/video/OVKFyVitDZ4/w-d-xo.html
Fantastic video! Innovative bed/kitchen insert module and such a great presentation by both of you. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks so much Jeff.
AWESOME! Thanks for sharing.
Fantastic build! Great job 👍.
This is really awesome ! Thank you so much for the details and Amazon links. I have been thinking about trying to do something like this. You have saved me a lot of leg work. Safe Travels !
Awesome van setup you two
I Love it 💖 its super fun it’s a wonderful experience thank you for sharing
One of the better setups I have seen. 👍🏽
Very flattering. Thx.
Super cool build, stealthy 👍
Great job
Love, love, love the conversion. Can't stand the jarring music. I always thought clamping was about peace and tranquility...the music doesn't jive.
So mute it. It was all of 30 seconds and didn't conflict with dialogue.
Very nice set up
This is inspiring. Thank you, new sub. I will be watching your previous videos in the hope I can see how you created the platform. Hubs and I would like to roam a little as rv isn't doable. Thank you. Gives me hope.
Thanks for subbing! Happy travels.
Absolutely brilliant. So many wonderful ideas. I've been saving for the Napier awning thingy. In the past i've used a tarp and tent poles to give us more shade and extend that area a bit but i love the Napier because i could toss the tent poles as it's self supporting.
Agreed. The Napier is easy. And if it not windy, we don’t add the guy lines. Total time for installing with 2 people is 2-3 minutes.
Cool set up.
Excellent build filled with clever ideas!
Thanks Mary
Thank you.
Great ideas
I like your convetsion👍😎
You've built in some very slick features.
Thanks Derek. Stay tuned for more videos coming.
This is so great!!
Thx Lucy!
This is a great video. Thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome.
are you open to sharing the bed build details? Love it!
Yes - we will be sharing the entire bed module build. We will share everything. I was looking at our module today and I believe we can make the design for any minivan. Stay tunes please
Yes I’m interested in your design too!
Carrie Coley We have posted a video on our channel showing the bed build
Love it
I'm interested in your bed! I have a Sienna as well.
Great love it
Great ideas. Especially installing the leisure battery under the hood. I have a Town & Country wonder if I can do that under my hood. Fortunately I do have a little bit more under floor storage in the middle. I Love your trifold bed. Nice to sit on a couch if it rains and makes getting to the basement areas so much easier. Also thanks for the toilet idea, that wobbly bucket sucks! I also really like that tent thing over the back lift hatch so I'm going to look for one of those. Not sure why so many get fancy with curtains when you can just put cut out blinds in the windows. Like how you painted one side of the blinds white to lighten up the inside. Like you, I don't want anything permanent so I can reinstall my seats if I want. Happy travels.
Installing a second battery under the hood is all about space. I had to build a new platform. I can do a video showing how. It is at first scary, but I was able to do this with simple tools. Best of luck
To Be Created thank you for your response. I agree that having the house battery under the hood is the best place for it. I would definitely have to check with my mechanic to see if it’s even possible. I’m really itching to convert my old 2010 Town & Country and start traveling. I bought it to enjoy the beach here with the grandkids when they were little. Now they’re older and off doing their own thing so I am considering removing and storing the middle and back row seats. Although it’s 10 years old it only has 100,00 miles on it with a strong engine. So I’m hoping it will take me on some long distance trips. I’ve always wanted to explore the western states and national parks. Once again, I enjoyed the tour of your build. I learned several things from your video. You and your wife seem so friendly and down to earth. Y’all did a fantastic job! Happy travels😎
You are absolutely beautiful and kind to take the time to show us. I just started minivan life and I’m overwhelmed but so excited!
muito bom!! muito prático vlw
One improvement, ditch the 2 sheets....fitted bottom sheet okay but use a duvet cover on a light comforter. Sheets are a bother & always look messy.
Keren om i like
Love it can you do a youtub on the bed set up looks great Thanks
th-cam.com/video/79G2RZ9iMos/w-d-xo.html
Intéressant
What a great set-up! Looks like you two are having a blast! I have the exact same van, and will be doing full-time in it for at least 6 months. Mostly stealth sometimes actually camping. I’d be interested to hear if there’s anything you would change about your set-up? I see you demo the bed/couch but it is a pain to do every morning etc? I was planning on modeling my van just like the VW vanagon westfalia style. But be interested to hear from you both! Thanks again for providing the tutorials and plans! Really helpful!!
We never use the couch feature. But we commonly fold that side up to access storage. We tilt the bed up and watch videos every night on our iPads.
I like how you organized the van. I hope that you will convert the toilet plastic bag into a bio degradable plastic
Good suggestion.
HI Chuck and Terri, Nancy here, subscriber 100, I love this build there are so few minivan builds on here and of the very few that are here yours is the best I love it, the fact you can take it out and put it back is awesome. do you have plans for that build I an looking for a minivan and Toyota Dianna is the van I had and wanted again, anyways and as always safe travels , stay safe, and God bless love ya Nancy
Thanks Nancy. Terri and I are committed to showing everyone how to do this build. Stay tuned. Just ordered parts to build a second bed unit and will shoot a vid while doing so.
@@ToBeCreated if it isn't too impolite to ask, do you happen to remember the approximate cost for the items you purchased to build the second unit?
Nice conversion! I've seen folks who live or camp in their Prius since its electrical system is powerful, robust, and stays charged with engine auto-start. That has me thinking that the new Sienna hybrid may be a cool conversion someday. On another note, I like your choice of music. But I wonder if any of your viewers hassle you about it. I used to feature similar music (royalty-free to avoid copyright strikes, though) in my videos and still get scolded by viewers who think it's annoying, even years after the fact. HAHA! I've tamed my opening and closing tracks as a result. :-)
Yes we get hassled about our music in our earlier vids. Thanks for watching.
This is sooooo ingenious I can now delete hundreds of my idea videos for my campervan dream! If you ever decide to help people build, I'd love to do it someday - or give you an offer on this one when if you decide to upgrade:)
This build was super inexpensive. Do you have a minivan now?
@@ToBeCreated thanks for replying! I ended up buying a small SUV but I want a van that I can convert. Do you have suggestions?
Amy - I only can reference the van I have. I will say that when buying a van, consider the reliability. We purchased this Sienna 10 years ago with 95k miles. It now has 205k miles. We have taken it on 6000 mile trips with no issues. Reliability is so key to a camper van.
Hi, love your simple and practical design, use whatever we have. May i know the name of the tent at the behind of your car? Love it, will try to get.
Napier
I love your setup! I was wondering how you have your tablet holder attached to the car?
We screwed in small 1/2” plywood blocks about 3” x 3”. Then we simply screwed in the provided cradle on top of that. The kit comes with 2 cradles so we have them installed on both sides.
Hi. I subbed after watching your bed build. I just watched this video for the second time. I was wondering what cord caddy you used? I found that to be quite interesting. Nice build.
Not entirely sure. I added 10 years ago and still going strong. I will removed to see if there is a brand on it.
@@ToBeCreated Please don't go to a bunch of work to find out. It just seems like a great idea.
Enjoyed your video. Do you have info on building bed and doing the second battery and electric work?
We have been planning a video on how to build the bed. It is relatively simple. We can also do the electrical video also. Thanks for the suggestion.
I like your Power Setup. However, as I BUILD these systems, I strongly recommend you up the Lithium to a 30 Amp Battery at minimum.
We have a 50 AH now.
Love this! We’d like to do the same bed/kitchen conversion-seems uncomplicated! Could you share the dimensions of the bed construction?
Please go to our TH-cam page and select the video for the bed build. There are free plans (link) in the comments
Caustic music!
have you considered placing paper towel or thin micro fiber towels in between the pots n pans to keep the noise down.?
Mark Bajek have not. Will have to try on our next trip.
Can you give us information on your grill?
You guys did a great build.
MICRO FARM
Search this. Cuisinart CGG-180TB Portable Propane, Petit Gourmet Tabletop Gas Grill, Black
Do you have any blueprints or measurements for the bed? This looks amazing!
We do not. Will do a video in a month or so on building your own. I will supply measurements then.
Hi Chuck and Terri, which mattress size did you get the 4" or 6"? The link shows 4" but I was wondering if the 6" would work for your build plans.
We use the 4” but 6” would be fine. We are going to use a 6” queen in our Promaster build.
Just in time, I was in the process of adding a camper bed to our Sienna 2006, when I found your great vidoes and scaping my design enfavor of yours. Question, how do you have the supports layout on the third row seat well setup? 2x4 to the frame? Any pointers would great. Thank you
Been meaning to post a video about that. We screwed in 2x2s when we removed the 3rd row seating. Gas tank is forward of the 3rd seat well, so no issues there. Then anytime we add the bed, we put 2 screws into the bed through to the 2x2s to secure.
Great ideas. Does the rear door use any of the car battery while open on your model Sienna?
No - there is a switch on the dash that deactivates all of the lights when the doors are opened. We have never had an issue.
You two epitomize a quote by Teddy Roosevelt mentioned by some other You Tubers (Keep Your Daydream): "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." You make a minivan work, it's amazing! I really don't need a 100K Sprinter campervan. But it all starts with that bed platform you designed. Man, please share or sell it as a downloadable ebook or pdf. Honestly, I will be your first customer, seriously! How can we make a deal?
We have a download available for every day of the week that starts with a S, M, T, W, F
drive.google.com/file/d/1BlvZu7ZnWJszXVXKyM7uZX7eMM5FdzZ5/view
Thank you, thank you!!
Great vid 2 questions ime from England buy the way so don't understand boom docking, and whats the awning at the rear?
Boondocking has two main components: how you camp and where you camp. ‘Dry camping’ and ‘wild camping’ are two ways to describe the “how” of boondocking. When you boondock, there are no connections to water, electric, and sewer like you’d find in a developed campground. There won’t be bathrooms, water spigots, or picnic tables. Just you, your camper, and a piece of land to call your own for a night or two. Boondocking is generally free, though sometimes a permit is required.
And the back awning
th-cam.com/video/OVKFyVitDZ4/w-d-xo.html
When I tried to book a camp site, they always said no I cant sleep in the car/van. Either camper or tent. Question: how do any of you get “away” with it? Btw, love everything you show there.
Thanks for watching.
Hi, thanks for sharing. Where did you get the reflectives?
Jeanne Huelskamp you can get it on Amazon or any big box hardware store.
Search “reflectix”
-warm cat on dry brush
That's how fires start
Hi you two... have enjoyed watching all your videos. We just purchased the same human litter box as yours and I have a quick question for you. The capacity for the bucket per the box says, 1.3 gallons. What size bags are you using? Thank you so much and be careful out there on your cool mountain bike trail. :-)
4 gal size works perfectly. Hope this helps.
To Be Created
It helps a lot. Thank you again. 😎
What are you using to hold your I Pad? Love your setup!
iPad holder: amzn.to/3kPoxqe
Where did you get the reflectics from? I can’t seem to find some that will fit my side windows.
We bought a roll at Home Depot and cut to fit.
Would love this set up for my 2017 Dodge Grand Caravan .... Are you for hire?
Very flattered but we have our hands full on our next build 😂
Do you have plans on how you made your bed/ couch?
The PDF is in the comments of the Bed Build video. Check out our You Tube Channel.
Did you build the bed platform, or can you purchase one?
th-cam.com/video/79G2RZ9iMos/w-d-xo.html
What kind of paint did you use that would adhere to the Reflexive material. Mine keep scratching off
We used Krylon spray paint. But ours is flaking off lightly. We are going to try Flex Seal next.
To Be Created ..... thx, I really didn’t think of that.... and I already have two small cans on hand
Which bags are those? And have you tried walnut shell litter?
Color Scents 4 gallon lavender
And we have not tried walnut.
@@ToBeCreated Thank you, we just got the “human litter box” you recommended. 😀 Still working on our folding sofa bed for the van, but hopefully soon we can get on the road., thank you for all your great tips!
where did you get those ratcheting hinges?
Amazon. There is a link in the description
It CLEARLY says Lithium Iron Phosphate (not Lithium Ion) on the top of the battery. LiFePO batteries are known for NOT catching fire like Lithium Ion batteries are. They do not go into thermal runaway like Lithium Ion.
You look so familiar. Are you an actress? I’m serious. I think I’ve seen you somewhere!! Great video!
Lol. No but thank you.
I love your van, very organized. Where can I buy the reflective window covers. One side white and the other darker. I like it. Thank you.
Sandy Sandover you buy the Reflectix (roll insulation) at most box hardware stores, Amazon sells it too. Size and cut them to size. I spray painted one side white and the other side black. Be warned, the paint starts to fleck after several uses. Next time we are going to try a flex seal paint (stays flexible).
How does the reflectix stay on the glass/window.?
If cut to size. Slightly larger than window. You push them in and the stay. Except for the rear window which is tilted too much for it to stay. The cover for the back window can be tricky. We will review this in our next video.
@@ToBeCreated okay, thank you!
Yes, I need to know how tou built that bed. In the beginning it just shows you sliding something in, I couldnt get an idea of what it was. Also, I'm looking at minivans and want to be sure about Sienna - you have to remove the seats, right? Is it difficult? I'm a senior lady and cant do it if they are really heavy. Love your setup. I have so many videos saved, but yours is so simple I hope to follow this. Just need bed and electrical how-to so my son can do it!!!
We will be doing follow up videos in the coming weeks to show how to build the bed. It is the key to the entire set-up. As far is the seats,yes they are all removed. The 2 center seats are made to be removed, but the rear (3rd row seats) are not made to be removed. The 3rd row seats only took about 5 minutes to remove if I recall. They are held in with bolts.
Painting the reflective it’s white. Does that not defeat their purpose?
So the front windshield Reflectix stays silver. That is used day and night. All other window coverings are used at night - black side out, white inside. Really works well at night.
Where did you get your IPad holder?
amzn.to/32dRdSH
Oh please tell where to get this conversion device
Got to make your own. Will post plans in future
@@ToBeCreated very cool
Where did you buy your toilet seat
Look in the description of the video. There is a link under “people litter box”
👍🏼👍🏿👍🏾👍🏽🙏😆😁✌️💪✊
How do you deal with being able to get to the spare tire? Thanks!
In a Sienna the spare tire is stored under the vehicle. Getting to the spare and the jack are completed unaffected by our conversion.
In a Sienna the spare tire is stored under the vehicle. Getting to the spare and the jack are completed unaffected by our conversion.
@@ToBeCreated Yes, exactly. The bolt to release the spare tire is now under their "conversion". So they have to remove all that to turn the bolt. I wouldn't call that "unaffected". Wouldn't be convenient on the side of the road.
@@auntiebobbolink what model year is your van?
@@ToBeCreated 2001